


Disclosure

by happylilthought



Series: Chalex Week 2020 [1]
Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Chalex Week 2020, ChalexWeek2020, Fluff, Football, Jealousy, Light Angst, M/M, Panic Attacks, Sports, chalex - Freeform, kiss and makeup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25689931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happylilthought/pseuds/happylilthought
Summary: Alex keeps up with the promise and visits Charlie during home games at Liberty, sometimes accompanied by his Dad or brother; Alex learns just how much his family cares about Charlie; And one home game afterparty reveals an unexpected secret that causes a bit of jealous anxiety, but ends up offering some much needed confessions.Day 1 (and some of Day 6) of Chalex Week 2020: Football/Sports
Relationships: Charlie St. George & Alex Standall, Charlie St. George/Alex Standall
Series: Chalex Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862938
Comments: 12
Kudos: 68
Collections: Chalex Week 2020





	Disclosure

**Author's Note:**

> [A/N: I found out about Chalex Week 2020 once it had already started and had the busiest week at work so I was upset I didn’t get to write anything on time, so I’m late to the party but plan on writing for most prompts because I love these boys so much ^_^ 
> 
> I’m starting a new fic but thought the one paragraph I had in it could work for this prompt and I could just expand upon it for Day 1. Then somehow this turned into a bit of angst and jealousy for Day 6 but I promise it ends fine! 
> 
> Also pretend that Luke Holliday wasn't a senior because I've written him as staying at Liberty in this.
> 
> In this fic, I had imagined that this is still fairly new into Chalex's relationship, so let's say Alex has been to a few games at this point, and maybe they've been dating almost a year if you count the high school relationship so maybe this is a few months post-grad, and bc I briefly mention this later: they've not done much sexually. 
> 
> Also I don't remember what the fandom was calling Charlie's dad - I think I saw he was named Henry in one fic?]

Alex didn’t know much about football. Peter was the family expert, and Alex didn’t care to take up the torch, even if his boyfriend was the Liberty Tigers’ captain. As much as he despised it, Alex kept up with the 'attend every game' rule for every home game, and went to away games as much as he could. Charlie told him he didn't need to, but to no avail, Alex sat in the stands behind the bench every single game at Liberty and cheered on his quarterback captain. Alex wasn't the most vocal, but his family made up for it. Deputy Standall and Peter occasionally attended championship games with Alex to support Charlie, and Charlie didn't dare admit how much he enjoyed receiving that encouragement. Granted, Alex could do without the family embarrassment. 

“Does Charlie have a game tonight?” 

“I’m beginning to think you don’t care about my life, Peter.” Alex scoffed, zipping up his overstuffed backpack for the drive back to Evergreen County. 

“That’s not true!” Peter frowned on the other end of the video call, his gaze diverting to the backpack. “He does, doesn’t he? You’re coming home?” His voice laced with enthusiasm. 

Alex rolled his eyes, grabbing the phone from his desk, “Yes. It’s another home game, so I’m leaving soon. I thought you had an exam?” 

“Damn, I like going to home games!” Peter pouted, his lips contorting as he glanced at the psychology textbook on his bed. “You should Facetime me so I can watch! Well, I mean my exam will be over before the game starts, so I can still drive down!” 

“No! It’s embarrassing enough to sit there with Dad, I don’t want you driving two hours to kill my eardrums with your screaming.” Alex argued, collecting the essentials from his dresser.

“It’s called cheering, dear brother.” Peter smirked. “And I don’t care if you hate it, Charlie loves me.” 

Alex shook his head, minimizing Peter’s face on his phone to open the most recent notification from his boyfriend. 

_‘The guys are having a party at Luke’s after the game? Shots guaranteed if we win or lose? You up for it?’_

“Just worry about your own life. Dad’ll fill you in on the stats. I gotta go, Pete.” He shrugged, typing back in the chat as Peter protested. 

_‘We can go if you want. I’ll be on the road in about half an hour.’_

“Who are they playing?” Peter inquired, “I’ll look up their-”

“Bye Pete.” Alex rolled his eyes, “Study for your midterm.” 

“Fine, I’ll just call your boyfriend and find out myself.” Peter protested, flashing Alex the middle finger. 

Alex returned the gesture, with a smirk on his face “Love you too.” 

Hanging up the call, he unzipped his bag and stashed the alcohol from his mini fridge in it, before zipping it back up and slinging it across his shoulder, pocketing his wallet, and grabbing his keys. 

_‘Drive safe. Text me when you get here. Love you!’_

Alex smiled at the message, texting back a quick reply before leaving the dorm room. 

_‘Love you too. See you soon babe’_

~

Alex pulled up in the driveway and pulled out his phone to let Charlie know he’d arrived safely before grabbing his bag and heading inside his family home. 

“Mum?” 

“Alex?” Carolyn Standall poked her head out from the kitchen to see her youngest son in the doorway. “How was your drive?” 

Alex slung his bag on the door, and entered the kitchen. His mum was cutting up watermelon and orange slices. “It was fine. Mum, you don’t have to do that every game.” 

“Those boys need the energy! I usually have late night shifts, so I like doing something for them so Charlie knows I care.” Carolyn smiled softly, arranging the orange slices in the clear tupperware container.

“He knows, Mum. We all know.” Alex scoffed, snagging a watermelon slice as he sat down at the table. 

When this had first started Alex was anxious that his family was making such a big deal about their relationship, but the team didn’t mind the extra food, and Charlie was always so polite about it that he didn’t have the heart to tell his Mum to stop. As exasperating as his family could be, Alex did appreciate how much they cared about him and Charlie. It was different from his former relationships. They knew about Jessica, but they weren’t big into family dinners and having their families involved in their lives. Of course, they didn’t know about his fling with Winston, so Charlie was one of the most serious relationships he’d had, and he was starting to get used to the feeling of things finally working out for once. 

_‘Mum’s making fruit again’_

_‘Thank her for me! We love it! 😊’_

“Of course you do.” Alex smirked at the message, “Charlie said thanks.” 

The smile on Carolyn’s face grew as she finished packing up the oranges and put the container in the fridge. “Are you going to see him before the game starts?” 

“I’d uh - I thought I’d have dinner with you first.” Alex offered, looking at the time, “If you have enough time before your shift starts?” 

Carolyn smiled softly, “I’d love that, honey. I can make some chicken parmesan? Your Dad will be home in an hour so make sure he heats up the leftovers before you leave.” 

Alex nodded, and picked up the knife to finish cutting the watermelon slices while his mum started gathering ingredients for dinner. “Peter called me before I left. He’s doing alright, has a midterm this afternoon.” 

“He called to ask about Charlie’s game.” Carolyn admitted, as she pre-heated the oven. “Said you told him not to come.” 

Alex rolled his eyes and stacked the watermelon slices in the tupperware. “He had an exam, of course I told him not to go. It’s embarrassing enough when Dad’s there yelling at Charlie on the field, and it’s worse when Pete’s there because he talks through the whole thing.” 

“You know they just care about you.” Carolyn stressed, cracking an egg for the chicken coating. “As much as your brother’s excited he can talk about football with someone who actually understands it, you know he is there to support you.” 

Alex shrugged, sealing the container and transferring it to the fridge. “I know… Sometimes it’s just a lot.” 

Carolyn nodded, breading the chicken. “Can you get me the baking sheet from the drawer?” 

Alex did as he was told, and rolled out a sheet of parchment paper onto the tray. “It just feels a bit intimidating… I really like Charlie and sometimes it feels like everyone is pouncing on him, and I don’t want to freak him out.” 

Carolyn placed the chicken on the baking tray, and moved to the sink to wash her hands. Alex slid the tray into the oven and then took out the pasta from the drawer for later. “They want to know about your life, Alex. We all want you to know how important you are to us. And Charlie is too. I’ve seen how much happier he makes you. If you’d have told me a year ago that you’d come home from college and offer to help me make dinner rather than storm up to your room, or storm out of the house…” 

Alex swallowed back the reminder, and let his bangs fall in front of his eyes. “Mum…”

“I know you’re better. I know that, but sometimes it’s just hard to think about how much you were hurting.” Carolyn sighed, drying her hands with the tea towel. “You’ve been through so much in the past few years, Alex, and your Dad and I want you to know how proud we are of you.” 

“Yeah, Charlie-” 

“Alex, it’s not just Charlie. You did a lot of growth on your own.” Carolyn smiled, stepping closer to her son, and brushing his hair from his eyes. 

Alex smiled faintly, and wrapped his arms around his Mum’s waist, closing his eyes as his Mum hugged him closer. 

The ‘I’m sorry’s’ went unsaid as Carolyn placed a kiss to Alex’s forehead and let him go. 

“I know it’s embarrassing, but it’s good to be a part of your life again. Not to mention it’s nice to have a part of you still here while you’re away at college - Charlie’s very sweet to check in on us.” 

Alex’s eyebrow furrowed at the comment. “Charlie visits you?” 

“Well sometimes he stops by the house, or the hospital, or visits your Dad at the station to say hi.” Carolyn admitted as she filled up a pot of water. 

“I didn’t know that.” Alex paused. 

_Of course his selfless boyfriend would make sure his parents were coping with the separation._ They didn’t often speak about the incident, but it wasn’t a secret. He’d spent more time talking about it with Tyler than anyone else, but it was comforting to know that Charlie had really listened and cared about him. He already knew that, but it was a new perspective to learn that Charlie’s regard for him transferred towards his family members. Alex wasn’t used to someone cherishing him this highly. 

Alex helped his mum finish dinner, and talked to her about his classes; his roommate; and listened to what she and his dad had been up to while he was away. It was reassuring to know they were doing alright with him being away at school and having the empty nest to themselves. 

His mum reminded him to bring the fruit to the game and make sure his Dad ate dinner before she left for work. Alex picked away at his leftover linguini as he debated what to say to Charlie when he saw him. Headlights lit up the kitchen window as his Dad pulled in the driveway. He set his plate aside and met his Dad in the doorway.

“Hey kid!” Bill smiled as he locked the car and made his way to the front step. Alex met him with a hug instead. 

“Good to have you home again.” Bill confessed gently. 

“There’s leftover dinner. Mum and I made chicken parm earlier.” Alex explained as the pair of them went into the house. 

“I would’ve thought you’d have gone to see Charlie first.” Bill shrugged off his jacket, as Alex turned off the oven and pulled out the chicken that had been keeping warm.

“I’ll see him at the game, and he invited me to hang out after so, I thought I’d spend some time with Mum.” Alex confessed, setting a plate on the table. “You’re going to have to heat up the pasta, but the chicken’s still warm.” 

“Your mum would’ve liked that.” Bill smiled trying his best not to press Alex for any further details. 

“I’m gonna get some stuff from my room before we leave, alright?” Alex needed a bit of a breather, and grabbed his bag, trekking up the stairs to his room. He unpacked his bag, keeping his sweater and alcohol for later. He’d brought some from his dorm, after Charlie had mentioned the party. Alex changed his shirt for the afterparty and grabbed the dark blue flannel blanket for the game. Sitting on metal bleachers was probably his least favourite part of going to Charlie’s games. 

His phone vibrated with a new message: 

_‘Can you sneak some alcohol in your bag? Couldn’t get it past my Dad before practice 😞’_

_‘What do I get for being a lifesaver? 😏’_

_‘Do you really wanna know?  
🍆🍆🍆’_

_‘You’ve got yourself a deal not-such-a St. George ’_

_‘😧  
I’m an 👼’_

Alex smirked, pocketing his phone and heading downstairs. 

~

No matter how many times he attended Liberty Tigers’ games, Alex would never tire of seeing Charlie run out on the field with a beaming smile on his face and wave at him on the bleachers.

Once halftime rolled around, the Tigers were up fifteen points and on a high as Alex dropped off the oranges and watermelon. 

Charlie engulfed him in a hug, squishing Alex’s chest with his bulky padding. “I missed you.”

“You saw me two weeks ago.” Alex smirked, pressing a kiss to his boyfriend’s lips. He’d only recently gotten up the courage to involve more PDA in their relationship. The football team had cheered for them to kiss at their first home game after prom, and Charlie put a stop to it, knowing Alex was still uncomfortable. So it had come as a surprise to Charlie when Alex had been the first to make moves in front of all the spectators. 

“Doesn’t make me miss you any less.” Charlie grinned, kissing him back softly. “Do you want to stay at my place tonight, after Luke’s party?” 

“Sure. I miss sleeping with you.” Alex nodded, lacing his fingers with Charlie’s. 

“Gross Standall, keep your sex life to yourself!” Luke teased, elbowing Alex in the back as he came up behind the pair of them and snagged a few orange slices from the container, shoving an orange peel in his mouth.

Charlie blushed, apologizing for the outburst, but Alex shrugged it off. 

“Peter wanted to come tonight, but he had an exam.” Alex smiled, watching Charlie’s face light up. 

“Ah, that’s okay! I spoke to him earlier. Told him his psych exam was way more important than watching us crush the Easthill Eagles.” 

Alex shook his head smirking, “Of course you did.” 

Charlie tilted his head in confusion, “Was I not supposed to? I like your brother.” 

“No, it’s fine. He likes you too.” 

That’s when Alex realized that his family being there to support Charlie was also impactful on his boyfriend. Charlie had been the outsider for a while, only being accepted into the group by Alex and Tyler. Sure, he had the football team, but Alex remembered how shy Charlie was at the beginning of their friendship that summer. He tried hard to please everyone and not step on any toes, and openly admitted he knew he would never be a complete part of their group since he hadn’t gone through what they did. Charlie was an only child, living with his Dad, and Alex remembered how calm he felt that first night he slept over and accidentally ended up in Charlie’s arms. Charlie was always the caregiver, putting everyone else’s needs before his own. Maybe Charlie liked having Alex’s family show a genuine interest in him, and accept him into their life? Before he could overthink the situation any further, Zach made his way over to them. 

“Long time no see.” He joked, wrapping his arm around Alex’s shoulder. 

“Shut up, I see your face every day on Snapchat, you narcissist.” 

Charlie took his cue and resumed his role as captain to give a pep talk before the next quarter. “Alright team, let’s huddle up!” 

The game resulted in victory for the Tigers at a total of 24-14, which only led to an increase in drunk football players at the afterparty. 

~

Alex fought the urge to cover his nose from the strong smell of whiskey on Luke Holliday’s breath as he started slurring his words as the night went on. “Your mum’s so nice. Makes the best oranges.”

“You don’t really make oranges, Luke. Just buy them from the store and slice them.” 

“Oh.” Luke pouted, raising his glass and frowning at the ice. “I need another dr-ink.” The last word was hiccuped which only caused him to laugh in response. 

“I’ll get you a drink, buddy.” Charlie offered, swapping Luke’s glass for water. 

“That’s not whisky, St. George. S’clear.” 

Charlie shook his head, clinking his cup against Luke’s. “So is vodka, and tequila, right?” 

Luke shrugged, taking a swig of the drink, only to spit it out offended. “This is water.”

“Yeah buddy, you should have some. Take it easy, alright? Don’t want you getting out of it.” Charlie coaxed, running his hand down Luke’s back, and pushing the cup back in front of his face.

“Okay…” Luke frowned but followed the suggestion, taking sips of the water. 

Alex’s eyes focused on Charlie’s palm which was resting against his teammates’ back. 

_Why hadn’t he moved it?  
How often had he done this before?  
How often did Charlie touch his teammates?  
Was he jealous?_

“Alex?” 

He was shaken out of his spiral at the sound of Charlie’s voice. 

“Can you get the cookies out of my bag? Think it would be good if Luke ate something.” 

Luke perked up at the suggestion, “Can we have pizza?” 

“No, we have cookies, though?” Charlie smiled softly, leading him towards the couch. “Do you want to eat some cookies and sit down for a bit?” 

“I don’t know… What kind of cookies?” Luke inquired, letting Charlie guide him further into the living room. 

Alex rummaged through Charlie’s bag, nearly spitting out his own drink when he came across a couple packets of condoms, quickly dismissing the thoughts in favour of grabbing the tupperware of cookies. 

“They’re snickerdoodles!” 

“Snickerdoodle is a funny word.” 

_Why did Charlie have condoms in his bag?  
Is that what he meant by asking him to stay over?  
They'd only really ever joked about sex, occasionally sexting each other. Alex thought back to that one time they fooled around before he left for college, and the weekend that Charlie visited him at Berkeley and gave him head in his dorm room. _

“Alex!” 

“Fuck - Yeah, shit. Cookies.” Alex zipped up Charlie’s bag and brought over the container of cookies to the couch sitting beside the drunken quarterback. 

Charlie mouthed a ‘thank you’ and coaxed Luke into eating some snickerdoodle cookies on the couch, as they mindlessly watched whatever was on the TV. 

“These are good St. George.” Luke smiled with a mouthful of crumbs in his mouth. 

“Aren’t they always?” Charlie grinned, eating one of his own, and offering them to Alex. 

Alex silently took a cookie, and watched the way Charlie tried to keep Luke entertained, trying to ignore the fact Charlie’s hand was on Luke’s knee. 

“I’m gonna get him some more water, okay?” Charlie interrupted, “Can you stay with him?” 

Alex nodded, and set his drink on the coffee table, feeling it would be rude to keep drinking straight in front of the quarterback they were trying to sober up. 

“I know I said your mum’s the best, but St. George is better.” Luke admitted, taking another cookie from the container. 

“Can’t argue with you, there.” Alex smiled softly. 

“Did he tell you we kissed once?” Luke giggled, taking another bite of the cookie. 

Alex’s face blanched at the confession. 

_How did he not know that?  
How did Charlie not tell him?  
When did that happen? _

“No… When did that happen?” Alex swallowed, inquiring slowly as if prolonging the question would make the answer more bearable.

“Grade seven.” 

The relief only dissipated slightly in Alex’s mind. 

“Oh yeah?” Alex moved the cup closer to Luke, encouraging him to drink more water. He glanced behind them, and noticed Charlie grabbing some water bottles from the fridge.

“Yeah, he’d never kissed anybody before, and I had a girlfriend so he asked me what it was like.” Luke explained, taking a drink from the cup. 

“He asked you?”

“Well, I kind of offered to show him.” Luke shrugged, “He didn’t know, so I told him it wasn’t gross and you didn’t get cooties from it.” He smirked, pausing to think about the rumour, “...But you can get mono.” Luke’s laughter boomed through the room. 

“What’s so funny?” Charlie interrupted the confessions as he returned to the couch with three water bottles, offering one to Luke. 

“Mono.” Luke grinned, taking the water bottle from Charlie. 

“Mono is a disease. It’s not that funny.” Charlie furrowed his brow, leaning back on the couch and glancing at Alex to fill him in on the joke. 

Alex struggled to get the words out, unsure whether to approach the subject at all, especially right now. 

“Funny when you think you don’t get cooties from kissing, but you actually can get mono.” Luke smirked, taking some gulps of water. He sat the bottle on the coffee table, and leaned into Charlie’s neck, whispering, “St. George, remember when we kissed in seventh grade?” 

Charlie stared at Alex, his cheeks turning pink and his palms starting to sweat. “Oh.”

“Told your boyfriend because you’re the best.” Luke grinned, lying back into the couch and resting his foot on the coffee table only to knock off the bottle of water he’d placed there. 

Alex rushed to grab the bottle before anymore water could spill on the carpet, and stood there awkwardly. “I’m uh - just going to go to the bathroom.” He set the water down on the side table out of reach from Luke’s feet and turned to leave the room. 

“Hey! Alex!” Charlie protested in anxiety and fumbled to get off the couch. 

“It’s okay, just stay here.” He argued, glancing at the room to find the nearest escape. 

The bathroom was down the hall. He remembered someone mentioning it when he’d first arrived, so Alex stumbled through a few people to get to it. Thankfully it was vacant, so he rushed in the door and shut it behind him, leaning against the wood. 

_What the fuck._

_Okay. There’s no need to be jealous. You kissed Zach and Charlie was okay with it.  
You kissed Winston; you basically dated Winston and he was okay with it.  
It’s not fair for you to judge him for something that happened in seventh grade for fuck’s sake. _

_But Luke kissed him? Or did Charlie kiss him back?  
And why were there condoms in his backpack? Fuck.  
Why was he hiding in the goddamn bathroom? What the fuck was he doing?_

Alex could feel the anxiety rising as his mind started racing and overanalyzing. He needed to calm down. He needed to breathe. 

_1, 2, 3… 4…_

“Alex?” 

_Shit._

Charlie knocked on the door again, and Alex struggled to keep up with the counting, his breath racing a bit faster. 

_Did he want Charlie to come in? Did he want to talk about this?  
Why was he overreacting? _

“Alex, it’s okay.” 

_Was it?  
Charlie would tell him to focus, but he didn’t really feel like focusing on Charlie right now. _

He turned to press his hand against the door, watching his fingers sprawl out across the wood, the patterns and textures of the door being interrupted at the sound of Charlie’s voice on the other side. 

“Alex? You don’t have to shut me out, okay? I know you might be -” 

“You don’t know how I feel!” He protested, trying to calm his breathing and shut out the distractions. 

Charlie swallowed, hearing Alex’s voice lower than expected, so he sat on the floor facing the doorway. “Okay, that’s fair. I don’t know how you feel, and I don’t know exactly what Luke told you... Let’s focus on what we do know. I know you got told something you didn’t expect. I know I am nervous that you know something I didn’t know you would be told tonight. I know I am worried how that might make you feel about me. I know I am worried that you might be upset with me.” 

_Charlie was worried?_

“What?” 

“I said I’m worried you might be upset with me. I don’t want to make you upset. I don’t want to lose you.” Charlie admitted, placing his hand on the door. 

_Cheerful, confident, charming Charlie was worried? Worried about losing him?_

Alex shut his eyes, and thought back to the realizations he’d had earlier in the day. 

_Charlie genuinely cared about him; how he was feeling; how his family was doing; how his teammates were doing; how drunk Luke was. Charlie barely ever put himself first. Of no fault of his own, Alex had now somewhat learned a private part of Charlie’s life that Charlie wasn’t able to admit of his own accord? And Alex was judging him for that? When Charlie never once judged Alex for everything he knew?_

“You’re not going to lose me.” Alex admitted, the words slipping past his lips without having much control over them. 

Little to either of their knowledge, their palms had matched up on both sides of the wooden door. 

“Can you open the door?” Charlie asked softly, leaning his head against it. “We don’t have to talk about this now if you don’t want to, but I think you should open the door...Think about how many drunk people have been in that bathroom tonight?” He teased gently, hoping the thought of it would convince Alex to exit the room. 

Alex breathed slowly, removing his hand from the door, and standing up, his hand wrapping around the doorknob and pushing the door open, knocking Charlie back a little. 

Charlie knelt to his feet, and swallowed, watching Alex head back into the living room, and following him silently. 

Alex noticed that Charlie had found Diego and put him on Luke duty as he’d gone after him. He grabbed his bag, and unzipped it, shrugging his sweater over his head for another layer of comfort and protection. 

Charlie was biting his lip, nervous to make any sort of moves, unsure of Alex’s boundaries in the moment. 

“Can we go outside?” Alex asked, leaving the bag where it was. 

“Uh, sure.” 

Alex walked around Luke’s backyard, finding a deserted spot on the grass, and lying down, his eyes fixed on the stars above them. Charlie followed suit, his eyes focused on Alex instead. 

“Sorry I freaked out a bit.” 

Charlie watched the words slip past Alex’s lips, honestly surprised to hear them. “You don’t need to apologize.” 

“Yeah, I overreacted.” Alex confessed, he let his palm wander closer towards Charlie’s torso, the invitation not unnoticed by his boyfriend. 

Charlie cautiously took Alex’s hand in his own and let his gaze match Alex’s. “Are you okay, now?” 

Alex nodded, sighing softly. “Yeah, I just didn’t expect it.” 

“Me either.” 

Alex gained some courage, and maturely started the conversation. “What happened exactly? Luke made it sound like he kissed you in seventh grade?” 

Charlie smirked at the memory, his thumb rubbing against Alex’s palm gently. “Well, I guess it was more of a mutual thing. He was my best friend. He was dating girls, and I didn’t really know how I was feeling at the time. Girls weren’t really the same anymore, no one was. Girls would dare each other to talk to boys they liked, or would argue with the teacher if they didn’t want to be partners with you, and school dances or parties weren’t as fun anymore. It was like you couldn't be friends with each other. There was a lot of pressure to be in a relationship, or play spin the bottle at some party, and I didn’t really understand any of it. I guess I sometimes liked girls, and I was also noticing some features on boys that I ‘wasn’t supposed to’ but I didn't tell anybody that.”

Alex smirked, “Features? You should elaborate on that.” 

Charlie blushed, shrugging as he continued, “I guess gym class was interesting because I was sometimes nervous to get changed in front of my friends; or you know, they’d compare things; or talk about how you could tell which girls were wearing bras, and I was maybe paying attention to how their shorts fitted.”

“Yeah, I don’t feel like I had that. I was talking to Tony about how he knew he was gay, and I don’t feel like I had that realization growing up.” Alex explained. “I think that’s why I was so confused and rejected it when I started realizing I guess that I liked Zach, and wanted to kiss him? It kind of made more sense to me later when I was seeing Winston… Didn’t make it any easier on me, but I guess I had to sort of admit it to myself that maybe I was into guys?” 

Charlie nodded in understanding. “It’s different for everyone, and you don’t have to feel guilty about whatever age you figure it out. That’s something I took away from it… So uh, speaking of kissing… Luke had a girlfriend, or girls who liked him, and this one girl in my class wanted me to go to a dance with her, and I felt stupid for not knowing anything, and didn’t want to look like an idiot, so I was at Luke’s house and we were talking about it. He uh - He was trying to tell me what kissing was like, but he was using fruit analogies and I was kind of confused how I was supposed to like kissing if it was being compared to kissing apples.” 

“So how did you feel about the eggplant and peach analogies, then?” Alex teased, “Obviously you’re fine with vegetables since you texted me the eggplant emoji.” 

“Shut up.” Charlie smirked, squeezing Alex’s hand, relieved that they were now at the joking stage. “So uh, I asked Luke to show me instead, and I thought he was going to show me a book, or a video, and instead he just kissed me, and I didn’t pull away? I just went with it and kissed him back. It was okay, kind of sloppy, but I didn’t have anything to compare it to, until later when I actually kissed girls, and boys, and learned what it’s really like. But yeah, we uh, stayed friends, and eventually, I came out to Luke and he was alright with it - more upset that I said I didn’t have a secret crush on him, actually.” 

“That was going to be my next question.” Alex smirked. 

“No, didn’t stop me from questioning the kiss after and kind of clueing in that I liked it? So I guess I did like boys? But no, I never did anything further with Luke - or any of the guys on the team, if you’re wondering.” Charlie admitted, shifting to rest his head on Alex’s shoulder instead of the grass. 

“I guess I do have another question for you.” 

“Mhmm?” Charlie stroked Alex’s hand as he closed his eyes and kept his head on Alex’s shoulder.

“Why do you have condoms in your bag?” Alex asked cautiously, feeling Charlie tense up against him. 

“I uh… Just in _case._ ” Charlie’s voice cracked at the confession. “I just want to have them in case we ever did, but I wasn’t expecting it? I don’t want you to think I’m pressuring you at all? … I thought uh - Don’t you get free condoms when you go to college, or?” 

Alex nodded, “Yeah, but I guess I was just surprised to see them.”

“I thought it was probably a bigger deal for you because you’re in college, so I wanted to have some in case…” Charlie admitted, “I wanted to make sure I was prepared if you were thinking something different than me…”

Alex sighed heavily, “Truthfully, I don’t know if I’m ready for that right now… Just had some bad experiences… weird associations with sex, so I think I have to get over those first before I can fully do that again.” 

“That’s okay. I’m okay with that.” Charlie confessed, “I feel like we’re still getting to know each other better in this relationship, so I would rather strengthen that first.” 

“Me too.” Alex agreed, pulling Charlie in closer to him and pressing a kiss to his forehead. 

Charlie relaxed, wrapping an arm around Alex’s waist. 

“I’m okay with blowjobs, though. If I remember correctly you owe me one for being a lifesaver with alcohol.” Alex smirked, teasing the younger boy. 

“Maybe we should go check on Luke first? Then we can go back to my place.” Charlie sputtered, shifting his weight off of Alex and getting to his knee to offer Alex a hand. 

“You’re that eager to get out of here?” Alex winked, grabbing Charlie’s hand as he got to his feet. 

“Maybe.” Charlie admitted, “If there’s one way to cure that jealousy of yours, it’s giving you my full attention.” He smirked back, regaining his confidence. 

~

“St. George, I ate all your snickerdoodles.” Luke confessed as Charlie and Alex returned to the living room. 

“That’s fine, Luke. I’m glad you liked them.” He smiled softly, pleased to see the quarterback had sobered up more. “Thanks Diego for looking out for him.” 

“It’s fine, we ate your cookies and watched TV. Stopped him from making a fool of himself dancing with the cheerleaders.” Diego smirked. “We’re probably gonna kick everyone out soon, so I can get him to go to bed.” 

“That sounds like a good idea.” Charlie agreed, “We were actually going to head out too.” 

“Thanks for coming, man. We’ll see you Monday?” Diego asked, turning back to see Luke dozing off on the couch.

Charlie nodded, “7:00 a.m. practice, don’t be late.” He smiled, giving Diego a hug. “I’ll call you tomorrow though, make sure Luke’s doing okay.” 

“He’ll be fine after some sleep, water, and breakfast.” Diego advised, before turning his attention to Alex. “Good to see you again, Standall. Thanks for stopping by.”

“Good to see you, too. My mum will be glad the fruit went over well again.” He smiled softly, before taking his cue from Charlie and grabbing his backpack as they exited Luke’s house and got in the car. 

~

Alex and Charlie drove to Charlie’s house, greeted by Charlie’s dad who had stayed up in the living room to make sure his son got home safe. Charlie glanced at Alex with a frown on his face at the surprise. He hadn’t expected his dad to awake waiting for him. 

“Alex, good to see you again. How are you doing?” 

“Doing well, Sir. Thanks for letting me stay over.” Alex smiled politely.

“Of course, I’m glad you boys had a good night and are home safe. Heard it was a great game against Easthill.” Henry smiled at Charlie who returned the grin. 

“Yeah the team did well! Always nice to win in your home game. But uh, we’re pretty tired, Dad, so-” 

Before Charlie could relieve the pair of them from awkward Dad hovering, Henry suggested, “I was thinking about making blueberry pancakes tomorrow morning for breakfast. Does that sound okay to you?” 

“Yeah that sounds great!” Charlie agreed, “Thanks Dad. We’re gonna get some sleep now, though.” 

Henry nodded, completely aware of Charlie’s brush off, and gestured for him to stay downstairs for a minute. Charlie urged Alex to go to his room while he said goodnight to his Dad and promised ‘no funny business’ was going to happen. 

“No funny business?” Alex teased as Charlie shut his bedroom door behind him as he returned to the room. 

“Yeah the awkward Dad talk.” Charlie rolled his eyes from the embarrassment, and joined Alex on the bed. “Sorry, I didn’t expect him to be up waiting for us.” 

“It’s okay, I wouldn’t really feel too comfortable doing anything with him being here, anyways.” Alex shrugged, pulling his sweater over his head, and shimmying out of his jeans. Charlie did the same with his jeans, and Liberty jacket before pulling back the covers as the pair of them slid under them. “I still get to sleep in the same bed as you.”

“I missed that. Plus my bed is way comfier than your dorm room’s.” Charlie grinned, sliding his arm beneath Alex’s waist, snuggling in closer. “Don’t get as much sleep in that little bed.” 

“Welcome to the luxuries of college dorm life.” Alex teased, curling into Charlie’s embrace, resting his head on his boyfriend’s chest. “Hey, I’m sorry for worrying you earlier. It was just a shock to hear, and I needed a minute to think about it all, which then you know, turned into me overthinking.” 

Charlie nodded, pressing a kiss to Alex’s head. “I know.” 

“I meant what I said though.” Alex promised, “You’re not gonna lose me.” 

The reassurance warmed Charlie’s heart as he felt Alex nestle into him comfortably. It was one of the feelings Charlie missed the most with Alex being away at college. The security was nice to have back. 

“You’re not gonna lose me either.” Charlie returned the promise, closing his eyes as they both drifted off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> [A/N: So this fic kind of got away from me, so I am a bit wary of whether or not it makes total sense. I’d appreciate any comments you have so I know if I totally botched the characters. 
> 
> For some reason I get this (good) tension between Luke and Charlie when watching the show, so this idea popped into my head when I was writing the party scene. 
> 
> Also, to toot my own horn I thought the not-such-a-St. George line was funny and I might want to expand on that in some other fics. Let me know your thoughts! XO <3]


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